1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to emergency escaping equipment for elevator and more particularly to an elevator car having a window such that in case of emergency a passenger trapped therein may open the window to pull an escape rope to activate an escape mechanism for moving the car to a desired floor and then open the car door to escape safely.
2. Related Art
There is a conventional type of elevator having an alarm button intercom in its car such that passengers trapped in the car due to, for example, power outage or malfunction, may use the intercom to communicate with an outside emergency service. The outside emergency service may then call an elevator mechanic to the rescue.
A drive machine of a conventional elevator is schematically shown in FIG. 23. The drive machine is mounted in a machine room and comprises a motor (a), a drive sheave (b) driven by the motor (a), a plurality of hoist ropes run grooves of the drive sheave (b), and a brake (c) attached between the motor (a) and the drive sheave (b). The brake (c) is adapted to hold the elevator stationary at a floor.
Moreover, the brake (c) is adapted to stop the rotation of the drive sheave (b) in order to prevent the elevator from falling in case of power failure. Also, the car gets stuck between floors. After calling an elevator service provider, an elevator mechanic may rush to the scene to enter the machine room. Thereafter, the mechanic may manually push a lever (d) to turn a shaft (e). And in turn, a detent block (f) is actuated by the shaft (e). Further, the brake (c) is released by the detent block (f) and is kept released. As such, the drive sheave (b) can rotate again. This can move the car to a nearest floor and eventually trapped passengers can safely escape through the car door.
However, the prior art suffered from a couple of disadvantages. For example, it may take one or two hours before the elevator mechanic arrives the scene. This is not desired since it is urgent. In a normal case the car and a counterweight are not balanced. Thus, the car can move until a nearest floor is reached. However, it is possible that the car and the counterweight are balanced when the car is trapped between floors. In this case a mechanic has to manually turn the drive sheave. This is dangerous and the mechanic tends to hurt in the rescue operation. Thus, the need for improvement still exists.